Meanings
present singular third person replicates · participle present replicating · participle past replicated · past replicated
- To make a copy (replica) of.
On entering a host cell, a virus will start to replicate.
2 more examples
It is the Northern portals that are most interesting. The earlier structure was given the romantic, grotto-like feature of a tower with windows. When expanded (circa 1893), the engineers chose to replicate that design, seemingly extending the castle further.
2020 August 26, Tim Dunn, “Great railway bores of our time!”, in Rail, page 46The idea is that by building the centre with used and new normal railway components, GCRE will "replicate" the UK main line railway. Doherty sees this as a unique selling point: "We have some good rail research/testing universities such as Birmingham and Huddersfield, but you can't replicate a train rattling through at 120mph in a lab."
2021 June 16, Andrew Mourant, “Plans for new test centre remain on track”, in RAIL, number 933, page 42 - sciencesTo repeat (an experiment or trial) with a consistent result.
[Isaac Newton] was obsessed with alchemy. He spent hours copying alchemical recipes and trying to replicate them in his laboratory. He believed that the Bible contained numerological codes.
2014 June 21, “Magician’s brain”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8892- sciencesTo be repeated.
Don't rely on that study, as it has never replicated.
- obsoleteTo reply.
plural replicates
- The outcome of a replication procedure; an exact copy or replica.
- entertainmentA tone that is one or more octaves away from a given tone.
comparative more replicate · superlative most replicate
- biologyFolded over or backward; folded back upon itself.
a replicate leaf or petal
1 more example
the replicate margin of a shell
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinreplicātus
- Englishreplicate
From Latin replicātus, past participle of replicāre (“to fold or bend back; reply”), from re (“back”) + plicāre (“to fold”); see ply. Doublet of reply and replica.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian копирам, правя копие
- копирам (kopiram)to make a copy of
- правя копие (pravja kopie)to make a copy of
Finnish kopioida, monistaa
- kopioidato make a copy of
- monistaato make a copy of
- replikoidato make a copy of
French répliquer
- répliquerto make a copy of
Hindi अनुकृति करना, अनुकरण करना
- अनुकृति करना (anukŕti karnā)to make a copy of
- अनुकरण करना (anukraṇ karnā)to make a copy of
Italian replicare
- replicareto make a copy of
Portuguese replicar
- replicarto make a copy of
Romanian replica
- replicato make a copy of
Spanish replicar
- replicarto make a copy of
Swedish replikera, kopiera
- replikerato make a copy of
- kopierato make a copy of
Turkish replike etmek
- replike etmekto make a copy of
Cite this entry
replicate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/replicate
“replicate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/replicate. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “replicate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/replicate.
Source: replicate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.